a) It begins and ends with a “tinkly” kind of synthesizer riff of eight notes. These eight notes are repeated quite a few times in the beginning of the song and at the end. This riff also pops up throughout the body of the tune, too.
b) It was hard for me to recall the lyrics. It begins with something like “Hello, my baby …” Other snippets I can recall are “sunsets of blues & pinks”, “windmills & roses”, and "… if you look for me, I’ll be with my baby". WARNING! All of these lyrical recalls are approximate, and could well be off.
Getting nowhere Googling the lyrics snippets. The local oldies station (specializing in Top-40 from 1960-1985) plays the song with some regularity. The style of music is squarely of the late 70s or maaaaybe very early 80s. It’s not disco (more downtempo), but it’s quite catchy and danceable.
Or more precisely, Strawberry Letter 23. The story is that the song’s writer had received a love note from his girl friend, that, as mentioned in the song, was titled “Strawberry Letter 22”. This song was his reply, so he incremented the number by one.
Heh, I was thinking it might be this at the OP’s first clue!
You should check out Shuggie Otis’ original recording (the Brothers Johnsons’ cover version is the one everyone knows). Personally, I prefer the cover too, but the original is good to hear and know about.
